King Charles is aiming to make his coronation "more inclusive" and "less archaic" as the big day looms this Spring.
The first in 70 years, the coronation is due to take place on Saturday, May 6, in a day which will be made a national Bank Holiday.
With work underway for the global event, the King is reportedly planning a more “inclusive, relevant and less archaic”, royal expert Jennie Bond had claimed, mirroring the changes in British society since the last ceremony in 1953.
He's also ensuring it echoes the “gravity and solemnity” of the late Queen's coronation 70 years ago, and is projected to be a more modest affair.
The former BBC Royal Correspondent that the Westminster Abbey ceremony will "reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry."
She added that the placing of St Edward's crown of his head will still be an "enormous" event – perhaps more so than the Queen's which was the first to be aired on TV and watched by 27 million worldwide.
“2022 was an extraordinary and traumatic year in so many ways," Jennie told OK! magazine.
"It had lots of ups and downs – the Platinum Jubilee, the Queen’s passing, her funeral and the continuation of the Prince Harry and Meghan saga.
“What we’re all witnessing with the New Year is the end of an era and the true beginning of a new era. The job is now securely Charles’s and he will forge through the year with enormous enthusiasm.
“He has such a strong work ethic and he will clearly be looking towards the coronation
“Whether it’s actually an event he’ll enjoy is probably questionable.
"It’s clearly going to be a big event, as witnessed by the Cabinet meeting recently that suggested it’s going to be even more enormous than the funeral of the Queen in terms of state attendees.”
Jennie said the King has been working hard alongside "guardian angel Camilla" to bring the ceremony up to speed with modern times, and depart from rigid former traditions.
"When we saw him make his first speech as King, we saw that change in tone – being King is his solemn duty," she explains.
"He clearly felt the weight of the job on his shoulders and that will be apparent in the coronation. It will be a mixture of a little less of the stiff, ancient formality but it will retain the basic structure of something extremely important happening.”
Adding that "unity" in the light of recent turmoil was important to Charles, Jennie said the celebrations will bring the country together.
Harry and Meghan will be invited to the event despite the ongoing saga of their Netflix docuseries and the release of Harry's memoir, Spare, which is due to hit the shelves this month.
“Events such as the coronation, which will be both a joyful occasion as well as a solemn one, do a great deal to shore up the popularity of the monarchy," Jennie added.
"There will be millions of people watching the pageantry so a big cheer goes up for the monarchy on these great occasions.
“It’ll be a fantastic day. Charles’ mother, in the Christmas message she gave the year she acceded, said she looked forward to her coronation and asked for everyone to pray for her on the coronation day. Charles will be hoping for unity."
